Just A Corner Store in San Francisco
by redskiez
Summary: Obito sees a store with familiar things from home. Inexplicably, he finds himself asking for a guide.


Beta'd by frozenCinders.

* * *

It's not the art that catches Obito's eyes and draws him to the humble corner shop on a random San Francisco street.

The familiar sight of Japanese scenery and writing stops him in his tracks. Obito peers through the art on display to the inside of the shop. There doesn't seem to be anyone there.

He walks around the shop and finds the entrance. When he pushes the door open, there is a soft bell sound. Obito still cannot see anyone in the shop.

He walks around, pretending to be interested in the art pieces. The pieces look like they are made in a hurry, painted with a skilled but hasty hand. He stops when he notices writing on one of them.

"Can I help you?"

Obito starts, standing up a little too quickly. He turns and finds who he presumes is the owner of the store standing behind him, carrying a large canvas and looking expectantly at him. Obito gives him a once-over, taking in his bleached blonde hair and showing roots, his paint-splattered apron that seems to be a piece of artwork on its own, and those seemingly impossible blue eyes.

He must be a mix-race or something.

"I, uh," Obito says, pretending to squint at something behind him. He continues to sputter for a bit, and then, "Are you Japanese?"

The owner regards him. Obito feels weak under his gaze. He continues to look around the store, admiring the rest of the artwork until he has taken in everything that is on display.

"Yes, hm," the owner says.

"Ah!" Obito says. "Me too! I am here for an office transfer and I don't know the area well..."

The owner puts down the canvas and then waves his hand in front of Obito's face. "Are you asking me to be your tour guide, yeah?"

Obito blinks. "Yes," he says.

"I don't do that," he says. "You come in here for art, not for a tour around the state."

"Help out a Japanese brethren," Obito says, speaking in Japanese.

The owner does not seem to consider him. He picks up his canvas and then puts it with the others, continuing to maintain his shop.

"Please?" Obito says.

The owner lets his arms drop and he sighs, tilting his head back. "Fine, hm," he says.

"Really?"

"Yes. If you keep asking, I'm going to change my mind, yeah."

"Thank you!" Obito says, hurrying to the owner's side. "Thank you so much!"

"Alright, alright," the owner says, waving him away again. "My name is Deidara, hm."

"Thank you, Deidara," Obito says, clasping his hands together, "you are a life saver."

"I know," Deidara says. He raises his hand and rubs his fingers together.

"Huh? Do you want money for this?"

"Obviously," Deidara says. "I'm just some corner store in San Francisco. I'm barely scraping by after bills so I'm not giving free labor, yeah."

"Of course," Obito says. "How about dinner, then? After closing hours, I mean."

Deidara doesn't comment. He continues to tidy up until there's nothing to clean anymore.

"Fine," he says, brushing his hands to get rid of the non-existent dirt. "What's your name, yeah?" he asks.

"Obito," Obito replies. "Uchiha Obito."

`55 LINE BREAK

Obito looks around the restaurant. He doesn't know what it's trying to do. There is too much décor and the music jumps from one genre to another. He looks down at the menu and decides that he'll stick with the Western cuisine, not trusting the owners of the establishment to know how to make anything Asian.

Deidara bites the tip of his tongue lightly, eerie eyes scanning the menu back and forth like it holds the answer to the universe. Obito wonders what he is going to order and, suddenly, he feels worried about his bank balance.

"Okay," Deidara says, putting the menu down and staring at Obito with the same weight. "Ready to order, hm."

"Oh, well," Obito stutters and then calls for a waiter. It takes a while before one of them catches his eye and she hurries over with a notepad.

"One of the tuna sashimi rice bowls," Deidara says, "a cucumber maki roll. I also want the Korean spare ribs, edamame, prawn tempura, Thai soft-shell crab, Chicken Pad Thai, Tonkatsu, and Geang Kaew Waan, hm."

Obito gapes. The waitress struggles to fit all of it on one page. She turns to Obito expectantly. He looks back down at his menu, his mouth dry. Deidara knocks on the table, the spot right in front of him, and it startles Obito.

"What?" he asks.

"Your turn to order," says Deidara.

"Oh, right," Obito says, blinking down at the menu. "One, uh, one seafood ramen, please."

"Would that be all?" the waitress asks.

"Yes," says Obito, taking Deidara's menu before he can say anything else. He hands it back to the waitress who takes it and hurries away.

"You didn't need to order that much, did you?" Obito asks.

"I did," says Deidara. "It's going to be my breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next week, hm."

"Next week?" asks Obito. "You don't need to order it in bulk..."

"Who knows what's going to happen these next few days?" Deidara sounds like he's accusing him of something.

Obito doesn't know what to say. In the end, he settles for shrugging and toying with the utensil box.

They sit in relative silence until Deidara speaks up.

"The city isn't that big once you get used to it, hm," Deidara says.

"I thought that would be the case," Obito says, "but I don't have a reference since I grew up in Tokyo all my life."

"You're from Tokyo?" Deidara asks.

"Yes," Obito replies. "For the majority of my life, if we have to be accurate. Can't remember anything else other than Tokyo, though."

Deidara nods. "I've moved around a lot, growing up. I don't think I can call any city my home."

"So why did you move here?"

"Because there are more opportunities here than back in Japan," Deidara says.

"Really?" Obito muses but then he realizes how dumb he sounds. "Well, of course, there are. This is America, after all."

"Yeah," says Deidara. "My folks weren't as keen on the idea as I was, though."

"I'd imagine," Obito says. "How old are you?"

"Turning twenty next month," Deidara says.

"Oh," Obito says and then he feels quite embarrassed. "You're young."

Deidara gives him a look, almost like he's accusing him of something. "What, did you think I was older than that, yeah?"

"It's probably because of the hair."

Deidara reaches up and touches the ends of his long hair, peering down at them. "What's wrong with it?"

"It's just... Nothing," Obito waves his hand and then gestures to the waitress returning with a giant platter. "Oh, here's our food."

As the waitress puts their plates on their table, struggling to fit everything in, Deidara reaches into his bag and takes out a multitude of Tupperware.

"You do realize they do takeaways, right?" Obito speaks up once the waitress is gone.

"And they charge extra if it's ordered as a takeaway, yeah."

"Oh," is all Obito can say. He watches as Deidara expertly arranges the food into his Tupperware. He fills everything that he has and he seems to be content with himself at the results. Obito shoves a mouthful of ramen into his mouth.

When Deidara is done, he has half a plate of chicken Pad Thai left. He starts eating as Obito finishes his meal.

"Do you always do this?" Obito asks when he finishes his drink.

"No," Deidara says through a mouthful of food.

"Just with me, then," Obito sighs. He refills his glass and continues to drink. The broth had made him quite thirsty.

"Hm," Deidara hums and he continues to eat slowly.

`55 LINE BREAK

"So, what's the easiest way to get around?" Obito asks, voice raised to be heard over the people.

"Your own car," Deidara says. "That, or public transport, hm."

"Whoa," Obito mutters underneath his breath, "so damn helpful."

"I heard that," Deidara says and he reaches back to slap Obito on the head. "You're the only person here who is speaking Japanese," he explains.

"Where's your office?" Deidara asks.

"It's a small branch," Obito says and shows Deidara the address. He watches as Deidara inputs the string of words into a map application and then directions pop up on the screen.

"Well, that's how you can get there from here," Deidara says, "but I think it's safe to say that the route would be different from your hotel, yeah."

"Did you come to San Francisco just to open a store?" Obito asks suddenly.

Deidara licks his lips, locking his screen and putting his phone back into his pocket. "I don't remember agreeing to an interview. This is just a tour guide."

"Sorry," Obito says, scratching the back of his head. "I just want to get to know you better."

"Why do you want to get to know me better?" Deidara begins to walk down the street again. Obito hurries to follow him.

"I just thought it would be good to," he says.

"Well, it's not, yeah."

"Sorry," Obito apologizes. He keeps following Deidara, unsure where they're going. Eventually, they stop at Chinatown.

"Chinatown," Deidara says, waving his hand about. "Best place to come when you're missing home, yeah. It's close enough."

"Thanks," Obito says, looking around. They don't walk in and Obito thinks it's because Deidara has something against this part of town.

"I came here because I thought I could make it big, hm," he hears Deidara say once they depart from Chinatown.

"Huh?" Obito thinks he's misheard him.

"America has always been this big, cool country that everyone goes to in order to make it big, seeing as everything and anything cool comes from here," he says. "I just thought I'd follow the bandwagon. I came to study here, yeah, and my parents thought it was a bad idea because there's a perfectly good university just outside our hometown and that it would be a waste of money if I come here."

He turns the corner and Obito follows him, wondering where they're going now. "But I eventually convinced them, telling them that my future would be brighter if I come here, yeah," he says. "I think I also said something about getting a job immediately after school because that's what most Americans do, right?"

"No," Obito scoffs.

"Yeah, well, I didn't know that," Deidara snaps, "and I dropped out of college and I didn't tell my folks about it, hm."

"You what?"

"I took the money they sent to me for tuition to rent a store here to make some side-cash," Deidara says. "It isn't going so well."

Obito wonders why he's telling him all of this, all of a sudden.

"I'm supposed to be graduating next year," Deidara says.

"Sorry," Obito says dumbly. He isn't sure if he is supposed to say anything, to begin with. Deidara sniffs and rubs his nose with the back of his hand, shaking his head.

"It's fine," Deidara says, "I don't know why I'm telling you this, anyway."

"It's good to let it out, one way or another."

"Yeah," Deidara says and he turns another corner and they're at his store again.

"Oh," Obito says, turning around to look at the street they just went down. He didn't even notice. Maybe he should pay attention when he's navigating a foreign city.

"I close at eight tomorrow, hm," Deidara says from across the street.

"Huh?" Obito turns back around and finds Deidara already slipping through the door and disappearing into the dark interior of the shop.

Obito's eyebrows furrow. Does he live there?

`55 LINE BREAK

He taps on the screen of his phone and the app crashes. Obito rolls his eyes and tries to reopen it. By the time the application loads, he finds himself in front of Deidara's shop anyway.

"Useless," Obito says to his phone and he looks up to find Deidara raising an eyebrow at him. "Not you," he says hurriedly.

"Right," Deidara says, stepping out of his store and pulling down the shutters. He locks the place and jabs his thumb down the street the way he came.

"Where are we going tonight?"

"Movies," Deidara replies.

"Movies?" Obito looks down at his watch. The screen lights up when his wrist flicks. "It's already eight."

"It's the time I close, hm," Deidara says.

"But I have work early tomorrow," Obito reasons. "I have a meeting."

"Well, it's the best movie place around here."

Obito hesitates, looking at the streets and watching cars drive by. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I've lived here longer than you."

"In the corner store?"

Deidara doesn't reply. He crosses the road and Obito hurries to follow. "Sorry," he says when he reaches him again. "I was just curious."

"Yeah, I live in my store. There's space upstairs. What's it to you, hm?"

"Nothing," Obito blinks. He scratches the back of his head. "I was just curious," he says again.

"Whatever," Deidara says and he enters the theater. Obito follows him.

It's a little more packed than he originally thought it would be. He looks around the place, taking in what's showing and he tilts his head. Right, they're in America.

"Two tickets," he hears Deidara say and he rushes to stand beside him.

"Here you are, sir," the employee says and hands him the tickets.

"He's paying," Deidara says, pointing to Obito and then he dips.

"Hey!" Obito calls after him but he digs into his pocket for his wallet anyway. He hopes he can get his company to cover for this. Maybe he'll need to pull some strings with the accounting department.

He shoves the receipt into his pockets only to find Deidara had ordered a large popcorn and two sodas.

"What?" Deidara shrugs. "It's mandatory to eat and drink something when we're watching a movie, yeah."

"It's..." Obito trails off, sighs, and pays for the food.

"What are we watching, anyway?" Obito asks when he gets his receipt and stands beside Deidara at the entrance of the house.

"Some superhero movie," Deidara says, sipping from his soda. "My old college friends all watched it and they say it's good."

"Right." Obito looks down at the tickets squeezed in between Deidara's fingers and narrows his eyes. "Spider-Man."

"Hm," Deidara hums. He continues to drink his soda.

Obito sighs and wishes he didn't ask this guy for help.

`55 LINE BREAK

Deidara rubs at his eyes.

"You okay?" Obito asks.

"Fine," Deidara says. "Thanks for paying, yeah."

"Not like I had a choice," Obito mutters. He glances down at his watch and sighs. "It's almost ten."

"That's how time works," Deidara says. "Come on, my place is closer than your hotel."

Obito makes a face. "I'm pretty sure my hotel room is more comfortable than yours." He pauses and then adds, "No offense."

"All of the offense taken," Deidara says. "Just because I'm a broke college drop-out doesn't mean my place is a mess, hm."

"Somehow, I highly doubt it," Obito murmurs. Still, he follows Deidara anyway.

His shop looks a little different in the dark. All of his paintings are still up and they somehow look like they're glowing. Obito squints at the one that caught his attention the first time.

Deidara snaps his fingers. "Huh?" Obito says, turning to him.

"Wake up," Deidara says. "It's up here, moron, hm."

Obito follows Deidara into the back room and finds a rather hidden staircase. It reminds him of the compact stairs back at home. He smiles as he runs his hand over the slightly worn wood and then he has Deidara snapping in front of his face again.

"Not the time to get homesick, buddy," Deidara says and he disappears into the darkness once again.

How strange, Obito thinks. Maybe he was a ninja in his past life. Obito scoffs at the silly idea and heads to the second floor of the shop.

Deidara turns on the lights when he hears Obito and he is taken aback at the sight of the second floor.

It's such a mess.

Obito sighs and runs a hand over his face.

"It's not that messy," Deidara sounds offended. He opens a fridge and takes out his leftovers from the previous night. "You hungry, yeah?"

"How are you still hungry?" Obito asks as he watches Deidara shove the Tupperware into the microwave. He takes in the little studio apartment, kind of amused that it takes on a Japanese style just because of the small number of things Deidara owns. No chairs or even a bed in sight.

"How am I not hungry, yeah?"

"You ate the entire bucket of popcorn."

Deidara pauses, turning to him. His eyebrows — dark, by the way — furrow and he looks at him accusingly. "It's my popcorn."

"I paid for it," Obito says matter-of-factly, then he stops when he remembers he had brushed his hand against Deidara's when he tried to reach for some. He decides that he is not hungry.

"Right," Deidara clears his throat and checks on his food.

Obito busies himself with looking at the bare bookshelf that Deidara has. It is filled with college books. He thinks Deidara can make some money if he sells some of these.

Fine Arts, huh? What an interesting degree to pursue. Maybe he's destined to be stuck barely scraping by in any city.

No, he can't be that mean. Anyone can do anything these days. Just because he has a degree in computer science doesn't mean he's better than anyone else.

Well, it kind of does. He graduated a while ago, when people were just beginning to grasp the importance of technology, so it was pretty impressive that he knows his way around a computer. That's why he's the head of—

The microwave beep takes him out of it. Deidara opens the thing and the entire room smells like Tonkatsu.

"That stuff is better eaten the day it's made, you know," Obito says when his lips stop feeling so dry.

"I wanted Pad Thai yesterday," Deidara says. He clasps his hands together, utters a familiar word, and digs in.

Obito continues to admire Deidara's things. It looks like, beyond painting, Deidara likes sculpting, too. He kneels and picks up one of the white creatures. They look nice. He wonders why Deidara doesn't sell them.

"Those aren't for sale," Deidara says from the dining table — technically, it's a coffee table, but Obito supposes those are cheaper and closer to the ground than actual dining tables.

"Why?" Obito asks. He places the sculpture back down and then looks at his hand.

"I made them when I was still in college, hm," Deidara says. He readjusts his weight on the pillow and picks up the Tupperware to bring it closer to his face. "They were supposed to be destroyed as part of my final project, but as I said, I dropped out, hm."

"Must be a shame," Obito finds himself saying. He moves away from the shelf and looks at other things, careful about privacy. He finds some art hung up on the wall. He doesn't recognize the artist nor the movement they're involved in.

"Superflat," Deidara says. "Okamoto Tarō, yeah."

"Right," Obito says. He squints at it, pretending to understand what is being drawn. "That's cool," he says eventually. "Very, uh, colorful."

"Hm," Deidara says around a mouthful of food.

He does another sweep of the room and decides that there is nothing else to busy himself with, so he heads toward the coffee/dining table. There are no more pillows, so he just sits, cross-legged, on the wooden floor. Deidara glances at him but otherwise does not offer anything else.

What a great host.

Obito plays with his thumbs, occupying himself until he remembers he has a phone. He takes out his phone and checks his messages. His boss texted him while he was watching the movie.

He scans the contents of the email and the reply chain. Seems like the issue fixed itself. He exits the email app and checks the system on his phone anyway.

"What are you doing, yeah?" Deidara's voice comes from his shoulder and Obito turns quickly, almost dropping his phone.

"Work," he says hurriedly, locking the phone.

"Hm," Deidara peers at him. "Why so secretive?"

"It's work," Obito says. Deidara continues to look at him like he's crazy. "It's confidential," he explains. "People who aren't working for the company can't read this information."

"Right," Deidara says. "I won't know. I work for myself and myself only, yeah."

"Yeah," Obito says. "That's kind of freeing, actually. No higher-ups to answer to and no disappointing employees to be disappointed at."

"I get disappointed in myself plenty," Deidara says. "Sometimes people won't even stop to look at my artwork, yeah. That's pretty disappointing."

"Well, it stopped me."

"You don't even like art, hm."

"Uh, yeah, I do!"

"Name one artist. Literally, a single artist. Any artist, hm."

"Um." Obito scratches his chin. "Do music artists count?"

"No," Deidara says. "Artists who made things that now belong to a museum."

"Er," Obito continues to scratch his chin until he remembers one of those famous artists he had learned while he was still in school. "Leonardo."

"Last name, yeah?"

"...DiCaprio."

"That is an actor," Deidara sighs.

"I like art!" Obito protests. "I like looking at it."

"That's so shallow, hm." Deidara shakes his head and then he picks up a pile of clothes from somewhere and tosses it at him. "Get changed. You said you have work early in the morning, yeah."

Obito gathers up the clothes from the floor and mumbles something underneath his breath. He stands and, after spending a brief second to look for the bathroom, he shuts the door behind him and gets changed.

"I still need to brush my teeth," Obito says when he's done, slipping out of the bathroom quietly. He stops in his tracks when he sees Deidara. He is facing away from him, one leg in his pajama pants and one leg out of it.

Save for his underwear, Deidara is completely and utterly undressed.

He slips back into the bathroom and pretends he hasn't seen anything at all.

"I have a spare toothbrush in the medicine cabinet, yeah," he hears Deidara say. "It's behind the mirror."

Obito clears his throat — and his mind — and takes the spare toothbrush.

`55 LINE BREAK

He doesn't know why he feels excited when he sees Deidara loitering outside his office building, but he does and, while he knows he should be worried about that, he can't muster up that particular emotion when he sees Deidara spot him and wave.

"Hey," Obito greets him, meeting him half-way on the street.

"Hey," Deidara returns. He looks at the office building behind him. "This is where you work, yeah?"

"Well, this is one of the American branches of my company," Obito replies. "There are a lot more across the country, and one more in this city, but this is the main post they applied to me."

"Hm," Deidara hums. He gestures down the street and Obito follows his head. "What do you do again?"

"Head of IT Transformation," Obito answers.

"I don't know what that means, hm," Deidara says. "Let's get lunch."

"Don't you have food at home?"

"This is to restock when I eat the rest of it this week."

"Right," Obito says. "Do you have a place in mind?"

"Yeah, actually." Deidara takes out his cellphone and pretends to squint at it.

"You, uh, you forgot to unlock it," Obito says.

"I know, dumbass," Deidara says, shoving the phone back in his pocket. "I'm teasing you. We've been eating what I want for the past two days, so I was going to ask if you wanted to eat something specific, yeah."

"Oh," Obito says. He thinks hard on what he wants to eat and he comes short. "Well, nothing super Western," he says after a while. "Perhaps, something Asian again?"

"You really miss home, huh?"

"Somewhat," Obito says. He pauses and he seems to realize something. "Do you ever miss home?"

Deidara is quiet. He crosses the street and Obito follows and the two of them end up in Chinatown again. He lets Deidara pick out a restaurant, seeing as he's more familiar with the place and probably knows which one is better than the others, and he walks in after him.

Deidara remains quiet until they've ordered their food and are left alone by the wait staff.

"Sorry," Obito decides to say after a few more moments of silence have stretched between them. "Tough topic?"

"No," Deidara says, sipping his cup of water, "it's just that no one's really asked me before, hm."

"Oh," Obito says because that's all he can say.

"I've wanted to go back," Deidara continues. "There's no place like home, right?"

Obito nods.

Deidara sighs through his nose, putting down his cup. "I've thought about telling my parents the truth, since I've got nowhere else to go other than their place, yeah, but I don't want them to be disappointed in me."

Their conversation fades when a waiter arrives with their food. They stay in that silence for a couple of minutes, the two of them busying themselves with eating to satisfy their immediate hunger.

After a while, Obito finds himself playing with his food. Maybe he should invite Deidara to stay at his place, in Tokyo, just until he can get his footing again—

He crushes the thought before it can grow too wild. No, Deidara wanted to be here, in America. He's probably working on being a resident here already...

"I understand your situation," Obito says. His voice sounds strange to his ears. "But I think you'll have to tell them sooner or later. Your visa is going to run out."

"I'll just tell them I found a job here," Deidara says, "and I'll deal with my visa issues myself, thank you very much, yeah."

"Right," Obito says, taking another mouthful.

Deidara sighs. "A lot of people I used to go to college with tell me they understand my situation too," he says. "They can't possibly know when they're still in college, yeah."

"I hear dropping out is a lot more common than before," Obito says.

"Yeah, probably because nowadays people are more financially secure than before..." Deidara squints at him. "How old are you, old man?"

"Old man," Obito scoffs and shakes his head.

"I asked you a question."

"I heard you," Obito says. He takes another bite of his food.

"Rude," Deidara says.

"I'm thirty-two."

"Thirty-two!" Deidara laughs. "You're old."

"Not that old," Obito says, offended.

"Hey," Deidara says, a slow grin growing on his face. "You're thirty-two, hm."

"Yeah?"

"That means you can buy alcohol here."

Obito's jaw snaps shut and he gives Deidara a look. "I might not follow the laws here in America," he says, "but I do follow the ones in Japan."

"I'm turning twenty soon," Deidara offers.

"Means you're not twenty now."

Deidara purses his lips and shrugs. "Well, I tried."

"Yes," Obito says, "you did."

`55 LINE BREAK

"So, are you in the mood for some sightseeing?"

Obito looks at Deidara, tilting his head. "Didn't we do some sightseeing two days ago?"

"That wasn't sightseeing," Deidara says.

"Wasn't it?"

"No, it wasn't." Deidara takes out his phone and pulls up a map. Obito doesn't bother trying to read it over his shoulder, deciding to put his trust in Deidara. "We're going to the real touristy places. You know, places you need to go see before you can say you really visited the place, hm."

"Hm," Obito hums, crossing his arms and holding his elbows. "I never really do anything like that on a work trip."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I've been to other places in Asia before, like Hong Kong and Thailand and Singapore, but I never thought to go sightseeing like a tourist. I'm just here for work and that's it."

"Sounds boring," Deidara says.

"Really? I've got work to occupy my mind all the time. It's not boring like that."

Deidara just shakes his head and begins to walk. Obito follows him, shoving his hands into his pants pockets this time.

"Is this the first time you're in America, yeah?"

Obito glances at Deidara, then keeps an eye on where he's going. "Sort of," he says. "I've been to New York, but that was only for one day."

"I've never been to New York."

"Don't bother," Obito waves his hand. "There's really nothing special to see. Just another city, you know."

"Really?" Deidara raises an eyebrow, the dark hair seemingly glowing in this light.

"Yeah," Obito breathes out, licking his lips. He almost walks into a streetlight. He snorts at Deidara's laughter.

Obito spends the rest of the day tailing after Deidara as he takes him from one landmark to another, as well as other less-known areas hidden in the city. Whenever they reach a landmark, they seem to always run into real tour groups and they linger around to listen to the guide talk about the area.

Obito isn't that much into sightseeing but he finds that he doesn't mind it when Deidara is by his side. He makes it seem like everywhere is a landmark, that everywhere is breathtaking, just because he's here.

Blonde hair really suits Deidara, Obito thinks. His mind begins to wander about color and he mentally slaps himself.

"Y'okay?" Deidara asks, hair blowing in the sea wind.

Obito swallows, his lips drying quickly. "Yeah," he says. He can't help but notice the long fringe covering half of Deidara's face is blowing wildly. He reaches out and tucks it behind his ear.

Deidara doesn't pull away when Obito realizes what he's done. He doesn't move when Obito shoves his hand back into his pocket, grabbing hold of the lint inside as if they were lead to keep them in place.

Deidara doesn't do anything when Obito feels his face heat up despite the rather cold wind surrounding them.

A barely suppressed smile begins to form on Deidara's face and Obito groans, "Sorry."

Deidara doesn't say anything. He just rolls his shoulders and begins to walk by the sea, careful with his steps to not kick sand into his shoes. Obito follows, deciding to fall into step with him despite what he did earlier.

Foolish. Obito mentally slaps himself again.

Deidara's shoulder brushes against him. It pulls him back out from his reverie and he looks at Deidara.

Deidara jerks his chin toward the Golden Gate Bridge.

"Looks just like it does in the movies," Obito says dumbly.

"I sure hope it does, hm," Deidara laughs.

Obito laughs too, a comfortable ease settling at the pit of his stomach. He ignores the other people on the beach and it feels like it's just the two of them here, alone, in the late afternoon.

It's peaceful. He likes that. He hopes that this moment will last forever, the sun setting behind their back and casting long, long shadows in front of them in the sand. Deidara's hair seems to glow bright gold beside him, a glowing aura surrounding his shadow like he's some sort of angel.

Maybe he is an angel.

For a while, all he can hear is the sound of the wind blowing loudly in his ears and it is echoed by each beat of the sea beside them. He likes the beach, Obito thinks. He hasn't been to one in a while, not since he was younger, and there's something really reassuring now that he's at one.

He doesn't know what it is but all he knows is that he hasn't felt like this in a long while, not since when he was still a little schoolboy, running along the artificial riverbank with his two best friends, a pinwheel in his hand.

Obito remembers Rin's soft face and even softer features. Perhaps his memories are washed out by time and the bittersweet nostalgia is poisoning his veins, but he doesn't remember her being so beautiful.

"When are you going back to Japan?" He hears Deidara ask him against the wind and waves.

"Not sure," Obito says, shaking the memory away. "There's a big issue here and the company wants me to completely eradicate it before going back. It could be as soon as tomorrow but it can also take as long as a couple of months if things don't feel like cooperating."

"I see," says Deidara. There's something in his voice that makes Obito wish that things wouldn't cooperate.

"Want to do something fun to make the most of it, though?"

"Something fun?" Obito asks.

"Yeah, something fun," Deidara says. "Like binge-watching movies together."

"Binge-watching?"

"Marathoning movies back-to-back, like watching all seven Harry Potter movies one after the other, yeah," Deidara explains. He turns to him to give him a weird look and Obito feels dumber than before.

"Well, I can't do that," Obito says. "I have work and I'd need to sleep early."

"We don't have to pay attention to the movies, yeah."

"But why would we do that? Don't we want to watch the movie?" Obito asks. Deidara raises an eyebrow at him and then he feels Deidara's shoulder nudging his.

"What?" Obito asks again. He presses his lips into a thin line as he watches Deidara roll his eyes and veer off from the beach. "What?" Obito calls after him.

Obito only manages to catch up to him when they are already in the heart of the city, heading to a place that only Deidara knows the way to. "Where are you going?" Obito asks once he's close enough.

Deidara doesn't seem to have heard him. Obito looks around and finds that they are on their way to his hotel.

"Oh," he says, scratching the top of his head. "Netflix and chill, right? Are we doing that thing?"

There is a moment of silence and then, "Do you even know what Netflix and chill means, yeah?"

Obito turns to look at Deidara, tilting his head. Deidara isn't looking at him. He rolls his shoulders and pays attention to the road instead. "I've only heard the interns say it," he explains. "It means chilling and watching Netflix, right? I have Netflix if you want to do that."

Deidara heaves a sigh and he seems to speed up.

"Hey, wait up," Obito says.

Soon, they arrive at his hotel and Obito takes him to the elevator lobby. Deidara looks around, seeming like he's really into the design of the place. Obito has been to plenty of nicer hotels than this but he thinks it must still be impressive to see such a grand place.

The elevator door dings as it opens and Obito leads Deidara in. He swipes his card and presses for his floor. The doors shut and they begin their climb.

"So, are we doing the Netflix and chill thing?"

Deidara sighs. "No, we aren't," he says.

"Oh," Obito says.

When the elevator reaches Obito's level, they step out and Obito takes the lead. He stops in front of his room and unlocks it with his keycard, letting Deidara in first.

He watches as Deidara takes off his shoes and steps in to look around. He slots the keycard into the power slot and takes off his shoes as the lights turn on. He heads to the toilet, letting Deidara do whatever he pleases.

When he comes out, he finds Deidara already sat on his bed, flickering through the channels on the TV. Obito heads over and sits by him.

"What are you watching?" Obito asks.

"Nothing," Deidara says. "There's nothing to watch in this stupid country, yeah."

"You want to go home now, huh?"

Deidara sighs, tossing the remote and flopping back on the bed. "This has to be home, hm," he says.

"It doesn't have to be," Obito replies. "You can tell your parents and then you can just go home."

Deidara is quiet. Obito stands and goes to connect his laptop to the screen. He logs in to Netflix and scrolls through the available shows. There are new things to watch.

"Let's watch Aggretsuko," Obito says after the short preview is over. He turns when Deidara doesn't reply. He is staring up at the ceiling.

Obito sits back down on the bed and then, after a moment, lies down beside Deidara.

"Did I say something wrong?" Obito asks.

"No," Deidara sighs.

"What's wrong, then?"

"I can't keep hiding like this, hm."

Obito hums. "I once used to always run away from my problems, in a way," he says. "I tried so hard not to see the truth. Even when it was brought to me on a silver platter, I denied it by twisting it. It was no way to live and some kid made sure I learned that lesson the hard way."

He hears Deidara turn his head. Obito doesn't turn to face him. "I reconciled with my best friend," he continues. "It was tough to admit defeat and to forgive him, even when he didn't really do anything wrong, but I'm glad to have done it. I wouldn't be here otherwise."

"Hm?"

"He got me this job. If not for him, I guess I wouldn't have met you."

Deidara makes a noise, a mix between a cough and a laugh, and he turns back to look at the ceiling. Obito glances at him and wonders at the slight flush on his cheeks.

"If you want to go back," Obito says quietly, "you have to stop running."

"Yeah," Deidara says. He glances at Obito and their eyes meet. Obito smiles at him and Deidara smiles back.

"I'm sure your parents will welcome you home."

"Only my parents will welcome me home?"

"Well," Obito says, coughing slightly and tugging at his collar. "I wouldn't say I would mind taking you around my district."

Deidara hums. "Just taking me around, yeah?"

"Well, what else would you like to do?"

"What else do you think I want to do?"

"I don't know," Obito says, furrowing his eyebrows.

Deidara shakes his head and then Obito finds his lap suddenly full of him.

"Oh," Obito says, hands automatically resting on Deidara's hips. He finds his mouth is dry and eyes unable to stop drifting down to the way Deidara's legs are spread to sit on him.

Deidara's hands move to rest on Obito's. They are warm and soft – truly an artist's hands.

"What do you think I want, hm?"

"You're nineteen," Obito chokes out.

"And?"

"We've met for three days," Obito adds.

Deidara scoffs, "You didn't strike me as a prude with you looking like that at the beach."

"I… I was just…"

"Just what?" Deidara's hands trail up Obito's chest and then rests on his shoulders. "Come on," says Deidara, "you can't be telling me you have cold feet, hm."

"I…" Obito trials off when Deidara presses himself closer to him. He swallows thickly as Deidara slots their hips together. "I'm not really sure about this," he stutters.

Deidara sighs. He stops but he doesn't pull away. "Why?"

"I, um, I want to take you out for dinner first."

"You already did that," Deidara says.

"No, a proper dinner. Something fancy and—"

"You want to take me out on a _date_?"

"Why not? I like to take things slow."

"I don't like things slow," Deidara says, "and I don't date, hm."

Obito breathes heavily through his nose and grips Deidara's hips harder. "Then I think you should get off me."

"Doesn't feel like you want me to get off you, yeah."

"Deidara," Obito bites out, "I won't do this if you don't want it."

"And if I told you I do want it?"

"Then you don't want it the way I do."

Deidara rolls his eyes and lets his hands fall to his lap, but he does not pull away. "I just want a distraction," he says.

"From what?" Obito asks.

"From _this_," Deidara says, gesturing to the air. "From everything, from my parents, from _home_."

Obito reaches out to him, arms wrapping around Deidara's torso. He feels Deidara's arms wrap around him again too.

"I thought you said you wouldn't run away anymore."

"I'm not running away. I just need a distraction, hm."

"What's the difference?"

"The difference, you idiot, is you."

Obito gulps. "Come to Tokyo with me," he finds himself saying.

Deidara laughs, a rumbling sound in his chest. "I thought you liked to take things slow," he says in reply.

"You want to be in Tokyo," Obito says, "I know you do."

Deidara is quiet. He doesn't move save for resting his head on Obito's shoulder.

"There's a school there you wanted to go to, isn't there?" Obito continues. "I'll help you."

"Why?"

"Because you helped me."

Deidara scoffed. "I can barely call this helping you. I'm more helping myself to you."

"You didn't have to agree to take me around the first day," Obito says. "I just barged in and gave you no other choice."

Deidara doesn't say anything.

Obito tugs at Deidara and forces him to sit up and face him. "Say yes," Obito says, "I'll help you if you let me."

Deidara stares at him for a time, then he grins.

"Fine," he says.

"Great," Obito replies and he kisses Deidara.

* * *

Hey guys, Red here!

Anonymous said:  
I got a prompt: Obito has to move to America and met a japanese artist in the area. He makes him help him around and the area and they grow attached to eachother

First and foremost, I'm going to go ahead and toss out a disclaimer that I have not, in fact, been to America before. Not to San Francisco, not to Texas, California, Florida, New York, or Washington D.C.. Have never set foot on American soil. Don't ask me why I type and speak like an American. I could have done more research when it comes to places you can visit in San Francisco, but I'm too lazy and America doesn't interest me all that much, so I didn't.

Secondly, I have three friends who do study in San Francisco or near the San Francisco area. Two of them are very old friends of mine, which is why I chose to use San Fran as the setting. Again, could totally just ask either one of my three friends, but I'm not going to risk them asking why I'm raising questions.

So, forgive me, Americans who are from or know of the San Francisco area.

This prompt is super old. I'm not even sure if Anon remembers sending it to me. This fic is still dedicated to the Anon, though.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed reading it and if you did (or didn't), please remember to leave a review telling me why (or why not)!

If you haven't already, you should follow me on Tumblr (redskiez dot net). I post updates, drawings, and cats on there. I will also answer any and all asks, so if you have any questions or requests, you can send them to me through Tumblr! My inbox is always open.

Did you know that I have a ko-fi? You can go to ko-fi dot com slash redskiez to buy me a coffee!


End file.
